Archive for September, 2011

RAUXA LANDS CHIEF DIGITAL OFFICER

Posted by poboutin in SF Advertising on September 27, 2011

Rauxa, a leading full-service marketing agency, today announced the appointment of John Barneson as Chief Digital Officer. Barneson will be responsible for managing Rauxa’s digital and integrated service offerings, developing new strategies to leverage and innovate new technology, and identifying and facilitating acquisition and partnership initiatives. Read the rest of this entry »

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eBay goes after mobile shoppers with a new ad campaign

Posted by poboutin in SF Advertising on September 15, 2011

As the holiday shopping season approaches, eBay Inc.this week began rolling out a major ad campaign aimed at mobile shoppers. The campaign includes television commercials, outdoor display ads and social media advertising.
Dubbed “When it’s on your mind, it’s on eBay,” the campaign launches this week with six 30-second TV commercials on cable network shows “Top Gear,” “SportsCenter,” “Tosh.0,” “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart,” “Top Chef” and “The Rachel Zoe Project.” EBay is using the tagline “Buy it New. Buy it now,” to highlight its mobile apps and fixed-price, new items—as opposed to the auction side of its online business.
While 62% of eBay’s 200 million live listings are fixed-price items and 70% are new products, the online marketplace says, some analysts have said eBay has struggled with its brand image, as many shoppers view eBay as a place to go mainly for used or out-of-season items.
For its outdoor display ads, eBay will use quick-response, or QR, codes near train stations and malls. When scanned with a mobile device, the codes will take consumers to eBay landing pages with different products highlighted. EBay says it will unveil the outdoor ads in New York, Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles beginning Oct. 17.
Online ads will blanket YouTube and Yahoo, and eBay  says it will place banner placements on Mashable, eHow, The New York Times, SF Gate, InStyle and Pandora.
The online marketplace says the campaign, which was designed by San Francisco ad agency Venables Bell & Partners, goes after avid shoppers in the fashion, motors and electronics categories.
“EBay’s target customers are shopping enthusiasts—people who are passionate about shopping, whenever and wherever the moment of inspiration strikes,” says Richelle Parham, chief marketing officer at eBay North America. “Shopping enthusiasts are heavy online users with a particular affinity for mobile shopping, and this campaign extends eBay’s powerful brand to reach them at the moment they want to shop.”
EBay says it expects to exceed $4 billion in sales volume on its mobile apps this year, double the $2 billion it brought in last year

As the holiday shopping season approaches, eBay Inc.this week began rolling out a major ad campaign aimed at mobile shoppers. The campaign includes television commercials, outdoor display ads and social media advertising.

Dubbed “When it’s on your mind, it’s on eBay,” the campaign launches this week with six 30-second TV commercials on cable network shows “Top Gear,” “SportsCenter,” “Tosh.0,” “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart,” “Top Chef” and “The Rachel Zoe Project.” EBay is using the tagline “Buy it New. Buy it now,” to highlight its mobile apps and fixed-price, new items—as opposed to the auction side of its online business. Read the rest of this entry »

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Exclusive – Facebook doubles first-half revenue, source says

Posted by poboutin in SF Advertising on September 7, 2011

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Facebook’s revenue doubled to $1.6 billion (1 billion pounds) in 2011′s first half, a source with knowledge of its financials told Reuters, underscoring its appeal to advertisers while it grapples with intensifying competition from the likes of Google Inc (NasdaqGS: GOOG – news) .
Net (Berlin: NETK.BE – news) income in the first half of 2011 came to almost $500 million, according to the source, who wished to remain anonymous because privately-held Facebook does not disclose its results.
Facebook’s stronger results come as investors have pushed its valuation to roughly $80 billion in private markets, with many industry observers expecting the world’s No. 1 Internet social network to go public in 2012.
Its (Paris: FR0010370163 – news) growing popularity among its advertisers and 750 million users has pressured entrenched Web companies such as Yahoo Inc (NasdaqGS: YHOO – news) , which ousted its chief executive Carol Bartz on Tuesday.
Search leader Google Inc launched Google+, a rival social network in June that attracted more than 10 million users in its first two weeks. Google is trying to increase the appeal of its social network by offering games such as Zynga Poker and Rovio’s Angry Birds.
Some venture capitalists and industry experts see early signs that Google+ is headed down the right path in taking a bite out of Facebook.
FROM DORM ROOM TO MARKETS
Facebook earned $355 million in net income in the first nine months of 2010 on revenue of $1.2 billion, according to documents that Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS – news) provided to clients during a share offering this year.
The source did not provide figures for a direct comparison for the first half 2011 figures.
Created by CEO Mark Zuckerberg in a Harvard dorm room in 2004, the company is expected to introduce new features this month such as music services from Spotify and Rhapsody, according to people familiar with the plans.
Facebook has become one of the Web’s most visited destinations by people who spend hours on the site every month sharing photos and videos, and conversing with friends.
Facebook accounted for nearly one third of all Internet display advertisement impressions in the United States in June, more than the combined total of Yahoo, Microsoft Corp (NasdaqGS: MSFT – news) , Google and AOL Inc (NYSE: AOL – news) , according to analytics firm comScore.
It was not clear what portion of Facebook’s $1.6 billion in revenue in the first half of the year came from advertising sales. Facebook also gets a 30 percent cut of sales of virtual goods, such as digital cars or animals, that enhance the experience in social games such as Zynga’s FarmVille.
In January, Facebook said it had raised $1.5 billion from investors including Goldman Sachs and Digital Sky Technologies, as well as through a private offering to overseas investors conducted by Goldman Sachs, at a valuation of roughly $50 billion.
Facebook declined to comment on its financial results.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Facebook’s revenue doubled to $1.6 billion (1 billion pounds) in 2011′s first half, a source with knowledge of its financials told Reuters, underscoring its appeal to advertisers while it grapples with intensifying competition from the likes of Google Inc (NasdaqGS: GOOG – news) . Read the rest of this entry »

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Rauxa Adds Industry Veteran To San Francisco Account Team

Posted by poboutin in SF Advertising on September 1, 2011

San Francisco (Sept. 1, 2011) – Rauxa, a leading full-service marketing agency, today announced the addition of Sally Warren Ka’uhane as Account Director. Ka’uhane brings more than 20 years of direct-marketing experience to the agency. She will be responsible for managing several accounts in addition to growing the agency’s portfolio of clients. Read the rest of this entry »

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